Putting Texts In Dialogue: Social Media & Its Detriments

Student’s Name Course Instructor Date Putting Texts in Dialogue with Each Other: Social Media and Its Detriments Technological advancement has brought with it many changes as seen in the modern world. The most notable change is in communication, which has become much easier through social networking sites. Almost everyone can now access social media by using mobile devices, computers, desktops, tablets and other many devices. The increased use of social media has not been without consequences. This paper examines Abdulahi et al, “A study on the negative effects of social networking sites such as Facebook among Pacific University Scholars in Malaysia” in relation to Jacob Amedie’s “The impact of social media on society.” Through these articles, the harmful effects of social media are brought to light using the different ideas presented by the authors. Generally, both articles agree that social media causes more harm than good by looking at the effect on relationships, psychological and mental health, privacy and the development of addictive behavior. Even though each article uses its own approach in addressing the issues, combining them in a conversational way makes it easier to understand and accept the claims. In the article by Amedie, it is recognized that social media has the potential to cause problems both emotionally and psychologically due to fact that the friendships and connections formed online are only superficial. Abdulahi et al examine the health effects of using social media. While Amedie generalizes these problems as simply psychological, Abdulahi et al provide specific and detailed examples of some of the health problems that can occur due to social media use. Amedie’s article identifies depression and anxiety as the two psychological problems faced by individuals who invest much of their time interacting with superficial friends. When such friends fail to offer the much needed emotional support, most people end up in depression, which leads to anxiety. Amedie (pg. 136) on the other hand, notes that apart from the psychological issues social media users also are at risk of suffering from mental disorders such as the Pathological Internet Use (PIU). According to the article, PIU is a disorder that results from excessive internet use and has the potential to affect a person’s health in the same way drugs do. By giving specific details, Abdulahi’s article does not invalidate Amedie’s ideas. Rather, it expounds on the same and makes it possible to know of the other serious effects social media has on one’s mental state. The texts by Amedie and Abdulahi et al tend agree on the issue of social media use and addiction. Concerning this, Abdulahi et al looks at social media addiction as only a mental disorder that is likely to affect those who use the internet excessively. Still on the same issue, Amedie examines addiction in relation to how it affects normal relationships. According to the latter, as people concentrate more on building virtual friendships, less time is spent with real family and even one does not have time for themselves. This means developing interpersonal skills becomes a big problem since most of the time is spent on social media. As seen from the above case, both articles acknowledge that addiction is a problem that results from excessive internet use. While Abdulahi et al concentrated on it as a mental problem, Amedie addressed it from the perspective of it affecting real life relationships. By looking at this in a conversational way, the articles combine to form a stronger claim that social media addiction does not only affect the user but also jeopardizes other relationships. This fact confirms the idea that social media negatively both individuals and the society as a whole. Both texts agree that due to social media use, most people, especially youths tend to become antisocial in the real world, which only strains interpersonal relationships. The article by Abdulahi et al examines how social media negatively affects the academic performance of students especially those in higher levels of education. In relation to this, Amedie focuses his study on society as a whole. This is one area where the two texts differ. The former is specific in its approach whereby it associates poor performance amongst students being a result of excessive social media use. For those who use the social media for research and other academic purposes, chances are high that they benefit from media use (Abdulahi et al., 135). In Amedie’s case, social media use does not only affect the academic life of students, but the society too feels these negative effects. As seen before, the article pays attention to the effect on interpersonal skills. Considering that interpersonal skills are required to offer ...